Saturday, 16 January 2016

Cucumber + Coconut Water Mojitos

Christmas has been and gone and I don't know about you but for me January is d-r-a-g-g-i-n-g. The temperature has dropped, I'm broke after buying presents and forking out for a new term's nursery fees and subs, and we're all exhausted and full of colds.

Along with the majority of the population I'm also feeling rather bleuurgghh after overindulging just a tiny bit on the food and booze front over the festive season. At the ripe old age of 35, I've long since given up making New Year's resolutions that fall by the wayside after a couple of weeks but I do tend to go on a bit of a health kick come January - basically because everyone else is doing it, so it's easy to! (I don't have much willpower).

For eight years I used to detox throughout January; cutting out wheat, meat, dairy and sugar from my diet completely. But these days my diet isn't dissimilar to that all year round so I tend to just up my daily juices and make more of an effort to lay off any processed rubbish that may try and tempt me.

And on that note, I've teamed up with the lovely people over at Innocent to bring you a delicious and virtuous mocktail using their coconut water to help you get your 2016 off to a good start!

I juice/Nutriblast daily - and with the latter, coconut water is the main ingredient in about 90% of my smoothie recipes. It's low calorie, low sugar and jam packed full of vitamins, minerals, anti-oxidants and electrolytes. Innocent is 100% coconut water - absolutely nothing is added whatsoever unlike lots of other brands on the market.

My contribution to the Innocent mocktail recipe collection is a virtuous Cucumber and Coconut Water Mojito! This recipe serves one and is a perfect refresher first thing in the morning. (It's also great in the summer!) It's so simple to make and, although I used my juicer for the cucumber, you don't need any fancy equipment - you can just blend it or add whole slices if you don't have one.

What to do.
Fill your glass with ice cubes and mint leaves.
Juice your cucumber; half of one should equate to around 150ml of juice. Pour over ice.
Top up with coconut water. Muddle.
Garnish with a sprig of mint and add straws if you like.

Of course if, like me, your lack of willpower means you aren't doing Dry January at all, then feel free to add a generous splash of Sailor Jerry's or Havanna Club to the mix. Although I'd wait until after midday if I were you ;)

Thanks to Innocent for sending us over some of their delicious coconut water.